Desperate Soul
by Scribbles-by-Kate
Summary: A short little RumBelle scene set after what happened in the second "Family Business" sneak peak. Belle feels terrible about what she did. One shot. Spoilers.


I had lots of feelings about the sneak peak, so this is my version of what I'd like to see happen.

I don't own _Once Upon a Time_: Adam, Eddy, and ABC do. I will return the characters to where I found them.

**Desperate Soul**

'How can you bear to touch me after what I did?'

Her voice is low, with a tremor in it. She's looking away from him, eyes cast down. Her lips tremble and her breathing hitches.

She's told him her secret: that in her search for information about what happened to her mother, she inadvertently helped the Snow Queen to recover her lost mirror, a powerful, dangerous object that she's been adding more magic to for years. It's Belle's fault that she's so powerful, and she's afraid of what will happen because of her folly. She hoped to find the mirror today and destroy it, but the quest was fruitless: she forced Rumple to take her to the Snow Queen for nothing.

He's holding her hand, comforting her, but she doesn't deserve it, because he trusted her, and she betrayed him: she betrayed the man she loves and she can't stand it. How could she _do_ that to him after what he's been through? What sort of person _is_ she?

'Belle.' He squeezes her hand.

Tears trickle down her cheeks. 'I'm sorry,' she sobs: 'I'm so sorry, Rumple. I'm sorry, I'm sorry!' Her voice is high-pitched with her hysteria.

'I know,' he says gently. He tugs on her hand. 'Come here, Belle.' And he pulls her into his arms.

'W-why don't you hate me?' she asks, shocked into a sort of calm as he holds her: 'why aren't you angry with me? You should be. No one has the right to take away someone's free will and I did that to you, just like Zelena.' And it sickens her to have to acknowledge a similarity between her and the evil witch who took Rumple's son.

'You are _not_ Zelena,' he says at once, voice rough. He pulls back to look at her. 'I know you took no pleasure in that, not like her, and I know that desperate people do desperate things.' The look on his face is grim.

She sniffles. 'You trusted me and I betrayed that: how can you be so understanding? How can you forgive me?'

'Because this is _me_ you're talking to. I've made countless mistakes :I know better than anyone how easy it is to choose the wrong path and for it to have consequences you didn't intend. And yet, for all _my_ mistakes, you forgave me. How could I not return that now? How could I not forgive you when you've forgiven so much from me, and so much of it unforgivable?'

Tears still trickle down her cheeks. 'I feel so sick, so horrible for doing that to you.' She can barely talk now: her voice is just a whisper with the emotion roiling inside her, and her heart is pounding, and she wants to throw up.

He sighs. 'You were frightened, and I didn't help by dismissing you the way I did. I'm sorry: you were upset and I didn't comfort you. I should've talked to you, tried to get you to tell me what was wrong.'

He moves a hand to cup her cheek. 'Belle, I don't want you ever to feel that there's something you can't tell me.'

Her chin trembles. 'I thought you would be disappointed in me.' She looks down, disappointed in herself.

'Never,' he swears: 'never.' He speaks with conviction and she wonders how he can be so sure, because she was sure that she'd never use that dagger until today.

'What I did then put everyone in town in danger,' she says, sick and miserable about it. 'You think I'm a hero, but heroes don't do things like that: they don't get frightened and make foolish mistakes. I wasn't brave: I wasn't what you think I am.' She sobs. 'And, after everything, I s-still don't know what happened to my mother.'

She's shaking again. For years, she'd thought her mother was dead, but now, with snatches of memory returned, she doesn't know any more, and she's no closer to an answer. She's scared of what the Snow Queen will do with the mirror and scared for her mother. She's desperate to fix her mistake and desperate to find the truth, and she's so sorry for what she did, for betraying Rumple like that. How can she come back from that? How could she do that to him: how _could_ she? She bursts into tears again, crying for her mama and for her folly, and for the _unspeakable_ betrayal that she can never, _never_ take back.

And Rumple…Rumple pulls her close again, holding her tenderly.

'You're the bravest person I know, Belle,' he whispers, voice so sincere. 'You will always be the brave woman who tried to show the beast the way out of the darkness: what you've told me today doesn't change that. Besides, heroes are human too: they don't always get it right: just look at the Charmings. And you didn't mean for what happened to happen: you were trying to do the right thing for your mother. What happened is the Snow Queen's fault, Belle, not yours. Never, ever doubt that you are and always will be my light, my strength, no matter what.' He kisses the side of her head.

'_R-rumple_,' she sobs: '_Rumple_.'

'Belle,' he breathes, turning his head as she turns hers, seeking each other out.

His lips are on hers and she trembles as he kisses her, because she can still feel love from him: he still loves her, even after what she did, and she presses closer, wondering how she could be so lucky to find a man who would forgive such a terrible thing and still love her.

'I'm sorry,' she breathes against his lips: 'I love you.'

He kisses her again. 'As I love you, _all_ of you.'

She trembles a bit and tightens her arms around his neck. She said that once, about him, to Neal, and it's as true now as it was then. It's also true that, no matter his mistakes, she has always seen the good in him, so, perhaps it's the same for him: that no matter what she did today, he still considers her his light and strength, and, oh, it feels good to realise that. She can't take back her mistake today, but she can make sure she never does such a thing again: she can be as strong as he believes her to be. With his love and faith, she can do anything.

There are three things she has to do now: destroy the Snow Queen's mirror, find out what happened to her mother, and find a way to give Rumple his freedom from the dagger truly and completely, because she never wants anyone to control him again, and especially not her.

**Thanks for reading :)**


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